Market/Product Validation Analysis
Problem: How To Market And Sell The Product
For many new products, it is initially unclear what the real benefits are, what the true compelling reasons to buy are, how to articulate these benefits, and what the best marketing programs are to promote the product. Management usually needs this information quickly because they are about to launch an expensive "new marketing program," and want to be sure they are using their marketing dollars efficiently. Also, at times, the product is launched into the market, but is not selling well - - and it is not clear why or what to do.
Solution: Market/Product Validation Study
The project includes interviewing approximately 50 target prospects or customers and asking them for their opinions or rankings on key sales and marketing subjects, such as benefits of the product, pain this product solves, compelling reasons to buy, how they would cost-justify their purchase, objections they might have, and marketing programs they prefer. The results are analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively and a final report and presentation are provided. This is approximately a 3-month project.
Specific Results
We completed this service for a young software company when their revenue rate was about $500,000 per year. At that time, many of the marketing and sales issues discussed above were not clear. Our analysis helped our client articulate their messages to the marketplace and efficiently use their valuable sales and marketing dollars early in the company's development. The company went public two and a half years later.
General Benefits
Realizing that this information comes directly from customers and prospects, there are many benefits from this study, including:
- Identifying the primary benefits to emphasize in marketing and selling.
- Pinpointing the compelling reasons that led customers to a purchase.
- Detecting the objections that your reps will need to counter.
- Determining which marketing programs to use and why.
- Identifying reasons the product is not selling.
- Ensuring efficient use of marketing and sales dollars.
